Most everyone agrees with the idea that something is wrong with our current health care system.

It is too costly, presenting a financial burden for families and businesses. It ignores the needs of rural areas, leaving citizens located away from cities without access to quality care. Finally, it is too complicated and wasteful. Our medical system is plagued by a maze of bureaucracy, paperwork and frivolous lawsuits left unchecked, all of which have lead to price inflation and the fleecing of taxpaying Americans.

So whether or not you have health insurance, you would most likely benefit from reform measures aimed at driving down medical costs. If you are insured, such measures would allow you to pay lower monthly premiums. If you are not insured, they would make it easier and more affordable to purchase health care.

Unfortunately, the reforms proposed by President Obama and his liberal allies in Congress have run off course. Rather than take aim at rising costs, the president has proposed a vastly complicated new layer of federal bureaucracy and regulation, paid for by tax hikes on small businesses and individuals.

In a bill that runs just under 2,000 pages, the architects of Obamacare have introduced the beginnings of government-run health care, with all the rationing, bureaucracy and public debt that we’ve come to expect from a federal government that continues to become bigger, more intrusive and more wasteful.

In Congress, I’ve been a vocal opponent of the president’s plan, and it is my hope that he and his supporters will realize what a flawed proposal they are working with and decide to start over. But that doesn’t mean I oppose the kind of positive reform that would bring down the cost of health insurance and improve access to affordable, quality care.

In fact, I think we can implement some of these changes right here in Oklahoma, regardless of what direction Washington goes in.

What it does require is a concerted effort to reduce the waste in a system that has been weighed down by non-medical costs. Medical malpractice reform is a good first step. Frivolous lawsuits drive up the cost of medical treatment and force doctors to perform defensive medicine — a practice which involves ordering excessive or duplicative tests and procedures in an attempt to ward of predatory litigation.

We can also make health care more affordable by offering tax credits to individuals looking to buy private plans, a practice which will not only provide immediate relief but which will drive down costs by increasing choice and free market competition. And we can make health insurance portable, so you can keep your plan even if you change jobs or become temporarily unemployed.

There are many other steps we can take – from eliminating exclusions for preexisting conditions to creating insurance pools for small businesses trying to cover their employees. And, of course, we need to promote personal responsibility where health is concerned. We have far too many personal tragedies that could be prevented simply by making healthier choices.

All of these are commonsense solutions that would lower costs, increase choice and make it easier and more affordable to purchase and hold onto quality health insurance plans.

Mary Fallin, R-Okla., is congresswoman from the Fifth District.